


Date Nights

by syriala



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Scent Marking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-18 00:19:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16106795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syriala/pseuds/syriala
Summary: Peter hates date night. He hates it with a passion, because Derek never says no to Erica when she sets him up on a date, sometimes aided by Cora and Isaac, and he always, always go out to meet with whoever they have picked for Derek.It’s the worst and Peter hates it.But, as much as date nights are the worst, they are also the best. Because Derek always comes home to him.





	Date Nights

Peter hates date night. He hates it with a passion, because Derek never says no to Erica when she sets him up on a date, sometimes aided by Cora and Isaac, and he always, always goes out to meet with whoever they have picked for Derek.

It’s the worst and Peter hates it.

The only silver lining in this is that so far none of the dates turned into more; none of them even stuck around for a second date. Peter’s grateful for that, because he already feels enough like ripping whoever Derek meets to pieces. There’s no knowing what Peter would do if one of them ever stuck around for longer than an evening. And if Peter should ever have the misfortune to meet Derek’s dates, there will be bloodshed and carnage. He just knows it.

And since Peter does have some common sense, he makes damn well sure to stay at home on date nights, because if he runs into Derek on his date, he wouldn’t be able to control himself either.

Derek is his, or should be, and Peter hates every second where Derek isn’t. He knows it’s his own fault too, with everything that happened between them, but still. Derek should be with him, and not indulge Erica with endless strings of dates, and yet Derek does. He goes out every time Erica tells him to and he never stops to consider what it might do to Peter.

Which, again, is mostly unfair, and Peter is still aware enough to know that, because he never told Derek how he felt. He might have wanted to, once, before Kate and the fire and his insanity, before Derek was forced to kill him, but now Peter fears that he has lost his chance. He’s still in awe over the fact that he hasn’t lost Derek completely, that Derek still seems to trust him, and Peter is unwilling to push that further than Derek might be comfortable with. He’d rather have Derek in his life than lose him completely.

But, as much as date nights are the worst, they are also the best. Because Derek always comes home to him.

It doesn’t matter where Derek went on that date, or how long it took, he always, always comes home to Peter. And he always spends the night. Which is a completely new form of torture, if anyone asks Peter, but it’s also the highlight of his days.

When Derek stumbled into his bed for the first time after a date, Peter almost attacked him right then and there, aggravated by the smell of _other_ on Derek, but Derek made a contented little sound as he curled up into Peter’s chest, and Peter’s need to cuddle Derek and chase that foreign smell away was more important than lashing out.

And when Derek left in the mornings, he only ever smelled like Peter.

They hadn’t spoken about this, were still not speaking about this, but they both knew that if Derek was out that night, he would end up with Peter, without doubt. It was something to delight in for Peter.

Peter has barely fallen asleep this night, too agitated by the image of Derek in their favorite diner with someone that wasn’t Peter, and when Derek slips into his bedroom, Peter wakes up just enough to track his progress through the room, but not enough to open his eyes.

When Derek slides into bed behind him, pressing his body against Peter’s, Peter sighs and presses back, snuggling into Derek who drags his nose over Peter’s nape and gently nips at the skin there. Peter shivers but reaches back to drag Derek’s arms around his middle. They have done this often enough now that Derek knows what Peter wants. Derek obligingly tightens his grip on Peter, squeezing him and pulling him closer and Peter goes boneless.

Derek will stay on the side closest to the door no matter how Peter already lays in bed, but if someone was to ask Peter, he prefers this. He feels protected, gathered up by Derek like this, safe and secure in his arms, and while Peter does enjoy holding Derek, too, there are nights he needs this.

This is what he looks forward to every day and Peter falls asleep easy now.

When he wakes up, Derek is still there, in bed with him, which doesn’t happen too often. Derek is an early riser, and by the time Peter wakes up, Derek usually has already showered and prepared breakfast.

If Peter thinks too hard about this, the domesticity of it all almost hurts him.

“Morning,” Derek mumbles into Peter’s neck and Peter almost groans, barely biting back on that noise.

“Morning,” Peter replies when he’s sure his voice will hold. “How was your evening?”

They don’t always talk about it. Some days Peter feels to raw to ask about it, and sometimes Derek doesn’t want to recount his evening. As long as Derek doesn’t smell hurt when he comes home, Peter doesn’t really care.

“Boring,” Derek says and presses his face into the skin on Peter’s neck. “He was boring and clearly only there for my looks. I don’t know where Erica always finds these people,” Derek complains, voice muffled by Peter's skin.

The nights where Derek has male dates are always the worst for Peter. It just reminds him that Derek is open to men and yet never even considers Peter. With women, Peter at least can pretend that Derek just doesn’t swing that way.

“Mh,” Peter hums in response and closes his eyes in hopes that they can just go back to sleep for a little bit and forget all about Derek’s dates.

“Coming home to you is always the best part of these dates,” Derek whispers almost absentmindedly, as if he wasn’t tearing Peter’s heart to shreds with that.

“You want breakfast?” Peter asks, wriggling out of Derek’s hold and leaving the room without looking back at him.

He needs some space right now.

He’s scrambling the eggs when Derek comes into the kitchen, almost half an hour later.

“What’s wrong?” Derek wants to know, and Peter doesn’t feel ready to turn around to him yet. Doesn’t feel ready to see Derek in nothing but his sleeping pants, hair all tousled and still soft from sleep. It’s too much today.

“Nothing. I’m just hungry,” Peter brushes him off, and if Derek hears the lie, he doesn’t say anything, which Peter is thankful for.

Still, their morning is weird, and Peter hates it almost more than the fact that Derek goes on these dates. The mornings always belong to him, and now even that is ruined.

Derek seems to pick up on Peter’s mood, because breakfast is quiet, and Derek leaves soon after. Peter wants to hurt something when Derek walks out of the door without a look back, but instead he tidies up the kitchen and airs out the bedroom. No need to prolong his suffering even more. Derek’s scent will be gone out of his room soon enough.

~*~*~

 _Going on a date tonight_ , Derek sends him three days later, letting Peter know that he’s going to come by that evening.

If he’s going to come by like he used to and doesn’t continue to ignore Peter like he has the past days.

Peter decides he’s not going to stay up until Derek returns, and instead goes to bed early. He lays down facing the door this time, because if Derek comes back to him, he wants to hold him, wants to feel him curl up small into his chest.

Even the thought that Derek might not come by despite the text, hurts more than Peter ever thought.

He’s fast asleep when he suddenly wakes up as the door to his apartment opens, and Derek’s familiar heartbeat fills the space. Peter doesn’t open his eyes, doesn’t watch Derek undress, though he wants to when Derek stands in the room for long minutes, not moving and barely even making any noise.

Peter wants to ask what’s going on, wants to know if it’s too strange now, but he keeps his eyes closed and patiently waits for Derek to make a decision.

It takes some time, but eventually Derek does crawl into bed with him, sliding under the blanket and tucking his head under Peter’s chin, curling into him and wrapping his arms around Peter.

Today Derek smells like someone familiar and Peter’s gut clenches at that. If the smell is already familiar to Peter, it’s likely that Derek already has been on a date with whoever it was. It would have been a second date. Peter can hardly stand the thought.

“I was out with Stiles today,” Derek whispers into the space between them and Peter almost jolts.

He hadn’t known that Stiles was into Derek, or that Derek was even into Stiles, and he hated the thought of them together with a passion. If they ended up in a relationship, and Peter could see how they could fit, he would always see them, always smell them. Peter wasn’t sure he was strong enough to stand that.

“And?” Peter asks, when it becomes clear that Derek is waiting for some kind of response.

“He pointed something out to me that I should have long noticed myself,” Derek says and pulls back, just a little bit. It’s still enough to make Peter tighten his grip on Derek briefly before he forces himself to relax.

If Derek wants to leave it’s his right to do so.

“And what’s that?” Peter asks, keeping his voice level and hoping to hell that Derek doesn’t pay too much attention to his chemo signals or rapidly beating heart right now.

Peter is already braced for rejection, because Stiles is nothing if not perceptive. If he has noticed that Peter is in love with Derek, Stiles certainly wouldn’t have any qualms telling Derek about it.

“He says it’s strange how I always end up in your bed after a date,” Derek tells him, and Peter clenches his jaw.

Of course Stiles would pick at that, would ruin this for Peter. Stiles has an uncanny knack of hitting Peter where it hurts the most.

Peter can’t even bring himself to say anything to that even though Derek waits patiently for a response.

“You want to know what he thinks?” Derek asks and Peter scoffs.

“Not particularly, no,” he replies, more honestly than he had intended.

“He thinks I don’t like smelling like other people,” Derek tells him anyway and Peter frowns.

“Of course you don’t like smelling like other people. I know it’s been some time since you’ve been part of a real pack, but that’s usually how it goes,” Peter gives back, trying not to let it shine through how much he wishes it was different.

“It’s not about smelling like other people,” Derek says. “It’s about not smelling like you.”

“Don’t do this, Derek,” Peter whispers, suddenly desperate to shut him up. “Don’t do this if you don’t mean it,” Peter begs, chest so tight that every beat of his heart hurts.

“I do mean it,” Derek promises him, and he reaches out to trail his fingers over Peter’s cheek. “I don’t like smelling like other people, because it means I don’t smell like you. I don’t smell like I’m yours anymore.”

“Are you?” Peter asks, voice breaking around those two words, and he’s so afraid of the answer, but now he has to know.

“Of course I am,” Derek immediately says. “I’ve always been. I’m yours.”

“But all the dates—” Peter trails off there, unable to just accept a good thing when it’s presented to him and he hates himself for that, but he needs to know that Derek is sure. That this isn’t just a spur of the moment thing and will be over in the blink of an eye. Peter wouldn’t survive that.

“I didn’t know,” Derek admits, and Peter doesn’t know what to do with that. “I don’t trust my emotions, not after.” He doesn’t say Kate’s name but they both know he means her. “And you’re important, so important. I needed you as my uncle more than as my boyfriend or partner. Seeing you as my uncle was safe, allowed me to feel secure and settled.”

Peter listens attentively, and it does makes sense. After everything they lost, family is more important than romantic feelings, and Peter understands that. What he doesn’t understand is what changed now.

“Stiles and John, they are family too. And Cora is back. You’re no longer my only source of comfort and familiarity,” Derek goes on. “I have other people I trust. So now I can concentrate on other things.”

“Things like—” Peter prompts when Derek hesitates, and Derek gives him a small smile.

“Things like how I am in love with you. How I hate sleeping alone because I know what it’s like to sleep with you. How I hate waking up to an empty loft. How I miss you so much during breakfast I just skip it all together. And I can finally admit that I only asked Erica for more and more dates, so that I would have an excuse to end up here with you again.”

Derek is so disarmingly honest in that moment that Peter just can’t help himself. He darts forward, stealing one quick kiss before he ducks his head to drag his cheek over Derek’s neck.

“I always wanted you to be mine,” Peter admits, almost breathless with how beautifully Derek bares his neck for him.

“Are you mine, too?” Derek asks, and for the first time there is some insecurity in his voice, as if Peter could be anything else but his.

“I have always been yours,” Peter promises him. “I hated the nights you went on dates, because you would come back smelling like other people, like you’re no longer mine. But I loved them too, because you always came back to _me_ ,” Peter explains and Derek’s smile is almost blinding, it’s so bright.

“I love you,” Derek says, honest and open and Peter has to kiss him again before he can say it back.

It doesn’t seem like Derek minds too much, with how he enthusiastically returns the kiss, before he curls up with his head on Peter’s chest.

“I’ve wanted to say it for so long,” Peter tells him and Derek smiles before he presses a lingering kiss to Peter’s pec.

“You can tell me again,” Derek says and when Peter isn’t quick enough to comply, he pokes him in the side. “Tell me again.”

“I love you,” Peter says, and he almost feels chocked, he loves Derek so much. He wonders if he will ever be able to adequately tell him.

“Love you too,” Derek mumbles, before he rubs his face all over Peter’s chest and then promptly falls asleep with a satisfied little smile on his face.

That night, Peter doesn’t sleep. He’s too much in awe over the fact that he gets this, gets Derek like this, to close his eyes. He doesn’t want to miss a second.


End file.
